This is Part Four of the Monkey Fighting Robots’ Oscar Predictions for the 89th Academy Awards: Best Score, Song, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing. My prediction system uses 25 years of data from awards and critics to try predict who the likely winners will be. Come Sunday, we’ll see how well it works. Make sure to check back after the Oscars to see if you beat the system!
Best Score: La La Land
Very unlikely: Jackie
The musical will win best score. Go figure.
Best Song: “City of Stars” La La Land
It’s a safe assumption that the musical will win Best Song, so the question becomes which one? “City of Stars” won the Golden Globe and the Critic’s Choice, so that’s where the statue is headed.
Best Sound Mixing: Arrival
Could be: Hacksaw Ridge
Less likely: La La Land
The system was fairly stumped on this one. The BAFTA, Satellite, and Cinema Audio Society Awards are good predictors for sound mixing, but this year is unique: Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, and La La Land split them, which has not been done in the last 25 years. So frankly, who knows. The BAFTA carries the most weight here, so Arrival is as good a choice as any.
Best Sound Editing: Hacksaw Ridge
Most Likely: Arrival
The system picked Arrival for this one because of its BAFTA win, but I’m must disagree. There have only been three films in the last 25 years to win the Golden Reel awards for both sound effects and dialogue: Letters from Iwo Jima, Titanic, and Crimson Tide. Only Crimson Tide lost the Oscar, and that was in 1995. Hacksaw will be taking the stage on Sunday.
Want to see more predictions? Check out Part 1, 2, 3, and 5 of our predictions here!
What are your thoughts on the 89th Academy Awards? Comment below.
